Self-oscillating soft switching envelope tracking power supply for Tetra2 base station

This paper presents a high-efficiency, high-bandwidth solution to implementing an envelope tracking power supply for the RF power amplifier (RFPA) in a Tetra2 base station. The solution is based on synchronous rectified buck topology, augmented with high-side switch zero-current switching (ZCS) implemented with a series inductor and an external clamping power supply. Combined with advanced power stage components (die-size MOSFETs), a high-performance fixed-frequency self-oscillating (sliding mode) control strategy and a 4th-order output filter, this leads to a compact, effective and efficient overall solution switching at 1 MHz with 88-95% efficiency. In a class-AB RFPA amplifying a 50 kHz bandwidth QAM Tetra2 signal at 4.6 W average output power, the use of tracking supply voltage reduced power dissipation by 25 W.